The Flower in her Rainbow-Colored World
by BiblioMatsuri
Summary: A series of drabble-length chapters, each illustrating or narrating one of Haruno Sakura's character arcs. Rated for implied violence.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

A young girl in a pastel pink dress clings to her mother's skirt, trying to hide. She wishes she didn't have to go to school.

A bright, confident blonde extends her hand, and gives the pink girl her brand new secondhand hair ribbon.

Another girl, bigger and louder and meaner, laughs at her big head. Pathetic little teacher's pet, always with her nose in a book. She's nothing but a sad little weed.

Suddenly, the bigger girl is spitting in disgust. The little pink girl smiles. She has a friend, a beautiful cosmos flower.

She goes home with a new secondhand hair ribbon that day.

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A/N: Trying out a new format. Please read and review.

I have the first ten chapters written. Beyond that, who knows?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The pink girl staggers under the weight of a stack of books. She slips and screws her eyes shut, expecting to get hurt. When she opens her eyes, the blonde is holding a book in one hand and a bandage in the other.

Flowers are blooming, and the blonde pushes a spray bottle at her. She protests, she gives in.

Time passes. The older girl stops coming by, busy with harder classes and more competitive classmates. The first two go on as they always have; a yellow star and her little pink planet.

The blonde is first in everything, except for grades. She assures her best friend that this is fine. Everyone is good at something.

They quarrel, they clash, they strike sparks off one another. They had disagreed before, but the pink girl had always, always given in before. Not this time. Of all battles, this was one she would not lose.

She goes home without a ribbon in her hair.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The girls fight, screaming, clashing, yelling, hair-pulling spite and fury. Nothing matters more than beating _her_ and getting _him_.

The pink girl wears red now, a blinding-bright color rimmed in lines and circles. The blonde dresses in purple, an orchid blooming.

The girls both have followers now, tiny bare planets circling a binary star that itself circles a black hole. He himself ignores them with all the single-mindedness of a spoiled child, with all the suspicion of a wounded animal.

Another boy is there at the edge of their world, a little yellow-orange yipping thing following the pink girl around. The blue-eyed girl points and laughs. What a pathetic little boy for wanting her.

The yellow boy is still there, an unwelcome surprise. The pink girl is staying with the dark boy. Oh, jubilation! Oh, jealousy.

The pink girl follows after the dark boy. The bright boy races after them both, not content to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The world is white, and her limbs seize. The blade that missed her was black. The boys have just saved their teacher from a trap.

The sea is bright, and she can almost see her eyes reflected.

The sky is blue, then gray, then white. The world is red, and her breath catches.

The dark boy lies bleeding, pierced by a hundred metal thorns. He wakes and warms, and they rejoice even as the bridge is stained brown and red.

Exhausted warriors turn to return to the bridge builder's home. Exhausted, their teacher collapses again, and the children laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The little soldiers come home, and the pink girl is worried and fussed over and celebrated. She smiles. No test is too hard for her!

What's this, some ugly-looking green boy challenging her precious? Ew, get him away!

The questions are easy. The forest is dark – but she's not a helpless little girl anymore. It'll take a lot more than a few giant bugs and a little darkness to keep her from her precious!

Tricks and traps. The bright boy is a fool, which is exactly what _he_ was counting on. Eeee, so cool!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The world is white again, and again she cannot move. For a moment there is red, but the snake strikes. The dark boy is burning with fever and poison. The yellow boy is wounded. What can a pathetic little bud do?

Wires snap, a deadfall and the whir of metal. Not enough. A burst of green, and another friend falls. What use is a flower without thorns?

Flowers might fall, but the leaf will not. Cherry blossom pink falls to earth. Gray-black blades fly, and once more red paints the world.

The blonde rescues the little pink girl again, followed by her teammates. Violet overtakes the sound girl. A sour note.

White and black. Pink and brown. An awakening and-

He is marked, stained the color of old blood and madness. He leaps and strikes, a cruel child watching his new toys break piece by piece. The snake's shadow has appeared.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

A leap of faith, of hopes and feelings and memories of better times, and he stops.

The bright boy is a fool. Still, better that he swallow the lie than expose the wound.

Gratitude, a promise. An olive branch extended, false smiles bright. Still, the dark boy is stained.

A rush to the end, a riddle, and a lecture. A choice, a plea. A command from her precious. Who is she to disobey?


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

A memory and then a challenge. Harsh words and honest intent. This is no place for ribbons. Now the crest of her village is upon her brow, for all to see. Now she will fight, and win.

Proof of improvement. Not enough! She can just keep up, only just. What use are thorns that cannot break skin?

Words cut. Knives cut. Pale gold scatters and twines and captures. Violet overtakes rose-pink.

Triumph in defeat, and a gloating grin.

Defiance, every pulled-back word and pushed-back thought and snuffed-out feeling hidden within the bud. An act of will and impulse. Violet flees.

Two girls strike, two flower petals fall.

There is no peace. Still, in the field of wildflowers, two sprouts reach for the sky.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

The pink girl steps forward to cheer for her comrades. Even the annoyingly loud one. She owes him, after all.

Tricks and traps and pure dumb luck.

Blood against blood. So this is the world of the great old clans.

The genius of hard work struggles. The green beast of Konoha will win! The lotus blooms twice!

Water flower falls.

Three children part ways. The pink girl frets and worries. Will she ever be more than a weed?


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

BGM: "Sennen no Niji" ("The Thousand-Year Rainbow") by Rin' featuring alan.

* * *

Outside the arena, the sun is shining.

Inside the hospital, the green boy struggles. The pink girl, shocked, stops. This was not the last exam. This was not her last chance. Next year, she will do better.

Inside the hidden village, false smiles are exchanged. Stains set deeper, wounds re-open, and the wind sets a child's pinwheel spinning.

What use are pretty colors without purpose? None at all.

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A/N: Last of the pre-written chapters. Updates may be sporadic after this.


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